Dallas for Fun and Profit

Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is the greatest day trip from Dallas! It was so much fun, I would definitely visit every time we go to Dallas. Having giraffes eat from your hand is just too cool. But watch out for the bull giraffe, he's a slobbery one!

If you are in to scantily-clad waitstaff, then I guess Bone Daddy's: House of Smoke could be considered a highlight. Mike's comment was, "Wow! They wear even less than the Hooters girls!" Yes, that's why I love him.

Quick Tips:

Weather, of course, check The Weather Channel before you arrive. But also call the hotels or people you will be staying with. The Weather Channel was reporting thunderstorms and tornadoes, so we didn't think to pack hats and sunscreen. Sure enough, our first day was sunny and 82 degrees, but we were in Glen Rose, not Dallas.

Best Way To Get Around:

Car - I love public transportation, but not in Dallas. Renting a car is your best best. And there is a gas station right before you enter the car rental area as you return to DFW so don't even think about using the rental agencies prepay fuel option.

Defensive Driving - I've read articles about how bad traffic is in Seattle and San Francisco, but I have never been so scared on the road as when I an in Dallas. Speed limits do not apply, crossing over several lanes in the span of 50 feet is commonplace, and never expect that another car is going to let you into their lane. Dallas is not for the faint of heart, drive aggressively and with an awareness of where your exits are.

Tollways - Have plenty of change ready for the toll stations. I heard a rumor that they were removing the booths on the tollways in Dallas, but everywhere we passed through still had a lane for exact change or a manned booth.

Directions - As always, I mapped our route using AAA's TripTiks online. We only had two errors which were only that the destination was on the opposite of the street. You don't need to be a member to use the basic features.

This is a destination! After our Fossil Rim Adventure Tour, we stayed overnight at the Lodge in the Parrot Room. The Lodge was the original house for the property when it was privately owned. It was built several decades ago and looks a bit dated, but it is clean and well-maintained. There are only five rooms so it will never seem crowded. When we arrived, we were the only guests, so we were able to snoop around and see the other rooms. As a result, I highly recommend the Parrot Room for the best combination of features. Although the room's private patio faces nothing in particular, it has the advantage of being right next to one end of the driveway which enabled us to unload and load our stuff mere steps from our room. With all the other rooms you have to carry your luggage down to the first-floor entry way and then down another flight of stairs to the parking area. Also, it had the only sunken bathing area, all the rest were standard bath/shower combinations. The bathing area is also a multi-person Jacuzzi. It takes a lot of water to fill and we were too exhausted at the end of the day to try it our fully. But still, it’s pretty cool.

Breakfast is included but it is located a couple minutes away at the Safari Foothills Camp. Seriously, it is the most amazing way to start the day - food cooked for you, sitting inside or outside a glass-enclosed bungalow, watching wildlife roam around a watering hole. Amazing! The food is nothing fancy, but it’s hearty and all-you-can-eat.

One note that may be important, we never received a key to our room even though there was a lock. I don't know if it is because we were the only guests, but make sure to ask the staff in advance if that is important to you. There is usually someone in the office off the foyer as well. Also, you have to make the lodging reservations separately from the tour reservations. If you want to pay for everything on one bill, arrange it with the Lodge. I wasn't clear about what I was doing and ended up being charged twice for the tour.

I am excited to return and highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys watching the sunset as Wildebeasts and Oryx stroll past.

I belong to Hilton HHonors, so staying at the Hampton Inn-West End wasn't the result of any great feature they had, just that I'm a member of their frequent stay program, and I like racking up hotel points and airline miles as the same time. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it a great location for touring downtown Dallas.

As a result of being a frequent Hampton Inn guest, I know that they have the best beds of any chain hotel I've stayed at, and this hotel was no exception. Our room was clean and bright but nothing fancy. The ubiquitous continental breakfast was included but I find theirs to usually be just a little bit better. They had sausage patties on the day we were there, so Mike considered it more than just a little better.

The hotel is safely within walking distance of the JFK Sixth Floor Museum, Dallas World Aquarium, and the restaurants and nightlife of the historic West End. Since most of downtown Dallas is designed in a grid of one way streets, it's fairly easy to navigate if you're driving to and from the hotel.

Of all the Hilton chains, Homewood Suites is my favorite. And if you're serious about spending time at Six Flags Over Texas, then let me lay out the awesomeness of this hotel.

First, you're a 10 minute walk from the front gate. Another way to look at it is that you are five minutes from the parking lot where you would otherwise pay $20 just to leave your car. There is no parking fee at the hotel.

Second, the hotel provides a better than continental breakfast, including omelets, hash browns, or waffles. It is a great way to start the day and will help you avoid buying crappy, overpriced food at Six Flags.

Third, all the rooms are suites, so you have a separate sitting area and an efficiency kitchen which gives you space to relax and the ability to cook food or store beverages.

Lastly, they also provide a light supper Monday through Thursday which ranges from lasagna to mini hamburgers to fajitas. I actually think it qualifies as a full supper because they usually include salad and side dishes.

Mike and I ate breakfast and arrived at the park before the gates opened at 10am. We were able to survive on a couple of pretzels and constant refills of our commerative glass ($1 refills!) until about 4pm when we went back to the hotel for a power nap and light supper. By 6pm we were back at the park and stayed until closing at 10pm. The Homewood Suites made it possible for us to pace ourselves, thoroughly enjoy our day at the park, and not spend too much time and money on crappy, overpriced food at Six Flags. As season pass holders, we went back for a few hours the next day after breakfast…still didn’t have to pay for parking.

Hammond's BBQ in Glen Rose, Texas is a great option if you find yourself in the area, not a destination in and of itself. As a Yankee, I would describe it as a stereotypical down-home place with sawdust on the floor and picnic-table seating. Even though it seemed like most of the patrons were locals and friends of the employees by the amount of chatting going on, it did not affect our service which was fast and friendly. Mike and I each ordered a Dinner Plate, and it was immediately apparent that we could have split one order and still had leftovers. I highly recommend the sausage which is the right shade of spicy. I was a bit underwhelmed by the brisket because I found it dry enough to require sauce, but it was smoky and tasty nonetheless. They have fresh baked desserts, and I had my heart set on the pecan pie, but our ordering snafu left us too stuffed to enjoy. So don't rub it in if you try it and it's delicious.

Mike had enjoyed enough amazing dinners at Lawry's The Prime Rib that he would wax nostalgia about it each and every time a discussion of steak or prime rib came up. So we decided to celebrate our anniversary at the Lawry's in Addison outside of Dallas. I really enjoyed the Premier Salad; Mike doesn't recommend the Caesar Salad because the dressing is not house-made. The Prime Rib that makes this place famous is carved table-side from a trolley that cruises around the dining area. You have to get it rare or medium rare, or else don't bother because other people will make fun of you (at least, I will).

Strangely, the Yorkshire Pudding was the most memorable part because I don't often get to have it, and this one was the perfect blend of chewy, crispy, and moist. However, as much as I enjoyed our meal, I don't think it is still the destination dining that it once was if only because there is comparable cuisine for much less money. Good but not great.

As I alluded to in my highlights section, if you are in to scantily-clad waitstaff, then Bone Daddy's: House of Smoke is destination dining at its best. Seriously, I felt a bit like a pervert just looking at our server to give her my order. In the tradition of Hooter's, "sex sells, oh, and by the way, we have food too."

For those of you who don't find this a highlight and are about to stop reading, I have to say that their Baked Beans can also be considered a highlight because they were so crazy good - smoky, sweet, tangy, and spicy. Having learned our lesson from Hammond's in Glen Rose, Mike and split a Dinner Plate - Brisket and Sausage and Peppered Turkey. I am starting to think that maybe I don't like Brisket because I found theirs to be dry as well, but once again, I found the Sausage to be spicy and delicious - actually, it was a little too spicy. As for the Peppered Turkey, Mike enjoyed it but I don't bother with turkey unless it's Thanksgiving.

Even with a reservation, we had to wait about 15 minutes for our table because the place was packed on a Friday night. After seating, service was lightening quick. So, overall, I have no complaints but wouldn't return if I had a choice.

The Dinosaur Valley State Park was nowhere near as cool as I thought it would be. In fact, I would say that it was a complete waste of time, unless you're able to take advantage of the extensive hiking/biking trails. But don't go for the dinosaur tracks.

The park bills itself as having "some of the best preserved dinosaur tracks in the world." That seemed significant when I was sitting at my computer in rainy Bellingham, but was a disappointment when I arrived on a beautiful April day. There are three sites that can be accessed from the main road (a couple more are near hiking trails) and all of them were underwater at the time of our visit. The main issue I have is that when I was looking at these slightly eroded footprints on the river bank, I couldn't really place their significance in the grand scheme of time. There is basically a little sign that says "dinosaur tracks" without information about what the topography was back then, why the dinosaurs might have been doing in that area or why these tracks are important. I totally get that it is important and cool that their footprints have lasted for so long, but it was underwhelming to look down and say, "oh, so there they are."

I do wish we could have spent some time on the hiking trails which would have been a better way to enjoy the day. But I was so disappointed our the dinosaur tracks and thinking that I would have rather spent an additional hour at Fossil Rim, that we just headed back to Dallas.

Right before you enter the park, there is the Creation Evidence Museum which presents scientific evidence of creation. Since we were already there and I was so disappointed in the park, I suggested checking it out. Mike, being an ardent evolutionist, adamantly refused to go in. So if any of you check it out, let me know. I'm kind of curious.